Rabbit-Proof Fence

Colour, 35 mm
Australia, 2002, 94 min
Section: Horizons
Oficiální stránky: www.rabbitprooffence.com.au

Synopsis

It took 100 years for white settlers to subjugate the Aborigines. In 1931 a law was passed allowing the removal of children born to mothers in mixed marriages; they were ostensibly then to be raised as white. Keeping the law active became the lifelong goal of fanatical Aborigine “protector” A. O. Neville. Fourteen-year-old Molly Craig, her sister Gracie and their cousin Daisy are supposed to acquire new manners in a re-education camp. But the girls escape and set out on a journey back home. Their determination to travel the 1,500-mile stretch changes into a test of humanity for everyone the girls meet on the way. Their only aids are a rabbit fence running across the continent and their hearts’ longing for love. The drama, inspired by actual events, took the Audience Award at festivals in Valladolid, Aspen and Edinburgh; the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film, Music and Sound; and the Film Critics’ Circle of Australia Award for Director and Screenplay. For Rabbit-Proof Fence and his latest drama The Quiet American (2002) Noyce was also awarded by San Francisco and London film critics and the National Board of Review.

About the director

Phillip Noyce (b. 1950, Griffith, Australia) gained domestic popularity and the Australian Film Institute Award for his fourth film Newsfront (1978), to which he also contributed the script. He gained experience in television during the mid-1980s. He made his name on the international scene with the thriller Dead Calm (1989) starring Nicole Kidman. After moving to the USA he became primarily known as a thriller specialist and added the following films to his filmography: Sliver (1993), Patriot Games (1992), Clear and Present Danger (1995), The Saint (1997), The Repair Shop (1998) and The Bone Collector (1999). The adaptation of the Graham Greene novel The Quiet American followed Rabbit-Proof Fence.